Activist investor's newest target: Barnes & Noble

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by Maureen Farrell of CNN Money

Shares of Barnes & Noble spiked more than 10% Monday, after activist investor Jana Partners disclosed it had taken a 12% stake in the book retailer in recent weeks.

Jana Partners, known for pushing for breakups or sales, could add pressure on Barnes & Noble to sell or spin off its Nook e-reader business, an option that Barnes & Noble's CEO said the company was considering in January.

Alternately, Jana Partners could call for Barnes & Noble to consider a sale of the entire company.

Jana has a pattern of taking stakes in companies and then pushing for action. This year, it convinced Marathon Petroleum to both buy back shares and consider a possible sale of its company.

"They come in with very well conceived and highly researched ideas and they're very good at persuading boards and management," said Kenneth Squire, president at 13D Monitor, a research service on shareholder activism.

Go here for the entire article: http://money.cnn.com//2012/04/23/mar...ists/index.htm

[Phogg]

"Activist Investor" tries to make them sound less nasty than the more commonly used term "Corporate Raider."

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by Phogg

"Activist Investor" tries to make them sound less nasty than the more commonly used term "Corporate Raider."

Yeah, perhaps. It wasn't my word choice though, I just copied CNN's term.

[Rob Lister]

This saddens me. Jana smells blood. They don't invest the millions such a strategy requires unless they think they have a real chance at success.

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by Phogg

"Activist Investor" tries to make them sound less nasty than the more commonly used term "Corporate Raider."

An odd euphemism it is; so contrived it draws attention to itself. If CNNMoney doesn't want to use the term everyone knows--presumably because it offends culture of its readership--then surely they can pick a better phrase; demonic hell vultures has a nice ring to it.

[tubemonkey]

If they can salvage the Nook brand, then more power to them. Personally, I don't care if the rest of the store goes under.

[QuantumIguana]

"Activist investor" seems to imply that they are a bunch of activists, that they are investing to further some cause. Corporate raiders aren't exactly what comes to mind when I see the word "activist". I don't care for that sort of newspeak.

But if they keep Barnes and Noble as a player, that's good. I have a Kindle, but competition keeps Amazon honest.

[ProfCrash]

I don't think the Nook brand needs to be salvaged. I think the Barnes and Noble brand needs to be salvaged.

[Pomtroll]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If they can salvage the Nook brand, then more power to them. Personally, I don't care if the rest of the store goes under.

I care. I love going in there & do so at least once a week. I also have made a lot of friends in the sales personal over the years.

[RainingLemur]

Sharks. They smell blood, so they take a peek.

I hope that B&N doesn't go under. I like going into their stores when I get the chance.

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by Pomtroll

I care. I love going in there & do so at least once a week. I also have made a lot of friends in the sales personal over the years.

B&N stores are my only refuge when I'm forced to go to the mall with my wife. MacArthur Mall has a three-story B&N college bookstore where I can sit, drink coffee, and flirt with cute college girls. They think I'm old but sweet and not at all creepy.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

They think I'm old but sweet and not at all creepy.

Fortunately we know better.

[Shack70]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If they can salvage the Nook brand, then more power to them. Personally, I don't care if the rest of the store goes under.

Agree, I don't own a Nook but i don't want to see it fail either

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If they can salvage the Nook brand, then more power to them. Personally, I don't care if the rest of the store goes under.

Hmm...
Selling/spinning off Nook doesn't necessarily mean getting out of the ebook business. B&N could still tie to an independent Nook the way Borders tied to Kobo.

B&N could also theoretically spin-off Nook and *still* stay in the ebook business on their own; They do own Fictionwise, after all. If Agency Pricing goes away or if the publishers/authors let go of their DRM security blanket, B&N could start playing up Fictionwise instead of minimizing it as they have, so far.

Or, for that matter, they might just spin-off/sell the Nook hardware business and keep the ebook side. Especially if DRM goes away.

[markbot]

Isn't Liberty already an activist investor?